The present invention relates generally to stringed instruments. More specifically the present invention relates to securing an instrument component onto the body of a guitar independent of the strings of the guitar.
Generally, a stringed instrument 10, such as a guitar shown in FIG. 1, includes several components and features. These various features must be installed and aligned in order for the guitar to operate properly. Various portions of the guitar 10 include the neck 12 and body 14 and strings 16. The strings 16 are connected to the neck 12 at the head (not shown) and to the body 14 at the tailpiece 18. The tailpiece is normally positioned on pegs 20 extending from the guitar body 14. The strings 16 normally pass over the bridge 22 and are supported by the bridge 22. The bridge 22 normally includes apertures 24 that accept pegs 26 extending from the guitar body 14. In the case of an electrical guitar, the strings 16 then are spaced over one or more pickups 28 that collect the sound from the strings 16 to be processed through the electrical guitar. These pickups are used to convert the physical vibrations of the strings 16 into the electrical energy which then can be electrically amplified to increase the volume of the guitar 10.
The tension of the strings 16 as well as the size of the individual strings 16 provides the range of notes and the proper tone of the guitar 10. The strings 16 are stretched to a taunt tension from the tailpiece 18 to the head of the neck 12. Fine adjustments in the tension of the strings 16 can occur in order to tune the guitar with a proper tone and a timbre. This tuning process of the guitar can take a large amount of time and can be very tedious for even the most experienced guitar tuners. As previously discussed, it is the strings that provide the mechanical energy that ultimately produces the sound from the guitar 10. As such, it is important to have these strings in proper tune.
A detriment to the tension in these strings 16 is the fact that the strings 16 have a tendency to break during playing of the guitar 10. This necessitates a restringing of the guitar and additional tuning of those strings that are restrung. The connection between the tailpiece 18 and bridge 22 to the body 14 of the guitar 10 complicates this restringing process. Conventionally, the tailpiece 18 and bridge 22 have been held in place against the guitar body 14 only by the tension of the strings 16. As such when one of the guitar strings breaks, or the guitar is in need of maintenance or repair, such as a simple cleaning, the bridge 22 and/or tailpiece 18 can be moved out of alignment, or fall off the guitar entirely. This movement can necessitate the retuning of all of the strings 16 of the guitar 10. As such in conventional guitars, even the breaking of, or damage to, a single string 16 in the guitar 10 can necessitate a retuning of all of the strings 16.
There have been some prior art attempts to alleviate these issues. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,686,523 and 6,613,968 and U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2003/0230184 and 2004/0074367 by Devereaux et al. disclose the use of set screws to threadably secure the bridge and tailpiece to the posts extending from the guitar body. These types of attachments of the bridge and tailpiece to the guitar body require special tools in order to facilitate the set screw attachment between the individual post and those guitar components. As such, without a special tool, maintenance, repair, and adjustment to the guitar are difficult.
Additionally, the Gotoh Company has manufactured tailpieces and bridges in an attempt to alleviate these problems. Namely, the Gotoh products named 510UB and 510FA, as depicted in FIGS. 2A-3B, include a single spring element used to retard entry and exit of a post in an opening in the bridge or tailpiece. These Gotoh bridges and tailpieces cannot completely secure the posts within these opening with the use of the spring elements. In fact the Gotoh 510UB bridge specifically uses an additional set screw to secure the bridge in place relative to the post and guitar body. The set screw requires additional tools in order to operate. Alternately, the Gotoh 510FA tailpiece has the post loose within the opening. This design does not secure the component to the body of the guitar such that damage to one or more strings will likely reposition or move the component necessitating the retuning of the entire guitar.
What is needed then is an improved system and method for securing instrument components to stringed instruments that preferably lacks the need for additional tools and reduces the allowance for relative movement between these components and the body of the stringed instrument.